The Korean War, lasting 1950-1953, became the first war in which jet aircraft were used in large combat actions. Aircraft like the Republic F-84 Thunderjet, Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, and other jets set the stage for jet combat in later years. This war also saw technological improvements in transport and carrier aviation, such as the steam catapult, the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar transport, and the angled flight deck. This war also heralded the beginning of the Cold War as a true war; some would say it was the catalyst for which the Cold War was born, commenting that both the United States and the Soviet Union now had an excuse to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons.
South Korean air forces
editThe first air unit was formed on May 5, 1948 under the direction of Dong Wi-bu, the forerunner to the modern South Korean Ministry of National Defence. On September 13, 1949, the United States contributed 10 L-4 Grasshopper observation aircraft to the South Korean air unit. An Army Air Academy was founded on January, 1949, and the ROKAF was officially founded on October 1949.
USAF Operations
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The United States Air Force was separated from the United States Army in September 1947, after President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act into law. The Air Force took on multiple aircraft from World War II, as well as new aircraft. By the time of the beginning of the war in 1950, the U.S. Air Force inventory included the North American P-51 Mustang, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, P-80 Shooting Star, F-84 Thunderjet, various light utility aircraft, bombers, and more. By the time of the beginning of the war in 1950, the Air Force had the largest force of land-based jet aircraft in the world. Left over from World War II were B-26 Invader medium bombers, B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers, while new arrivals included the A-1 Skyraider, F-84s, F-80s, and F-86 Sabre jets.
The Korean War began in earnest on June 25th, 1950, as 8 North Korean Army divisions swarmed across the South Korean border. Their aim was to "free South Korea from the liberals", in this case, the United States and her allies. The army divisions were backed up by Yak-9 and La-7 fighters, 70 total, and 62 Il-10 ground attack aircraft, all of which were Soviet, used in World War II or developed from aircraft used in that war. Had the United Nations not decided to immediately declare all-out war on the North Koreans, South Korea's air force would have been a mere entree for the Communists aircraft. In mid-1950, some of the only modern combat aircraft available in the Korean peninsula were USAF Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft. Therefore, the only aircraft that could actually fight in Korea came from Japan, the only place near enough to Korea to make any difference. Short-ranged F-80C Shooting Star fighters, and older F-82 Twin Mustangs
were the only fighters available to the USAF at the time.